People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.
Source: Stranger in the Village, in Harper's, (New York) Oct 1953.
-- James Baldwin, (Aug 2 1924-1987), US novelist, essayist; He was a noted spokesman for American blacks in 1950s-60s.